No, US military was not deployed to Congo to 'rescue' Marcel Malanga as viral videos claim
IN SHORT: The TikTok videos claim that the US military has arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to "rescue" Marcel Malanga and his associates after they were involved in an attempted coup. But these videos use old, unrelated footage and are misleading.
Several videos have been posted on TikTok with the claim they show the US military arriving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), reportedly to rescue Marcel Malanga and his associates.
Malanga is the son of Christian Malanga, a Congolese opposition politician who had sought exile in the US.
One video shows what appear to be US soldiers jumping out of a helicopter alongside images of Malanga in handcuffs. Another image shows a court hearing of those accused of plotting the coup.
Another video appears to show US troops being received at an airport by Congolese leaders and soldiers. A third video shows a large US Air Force plane unloading troops and military vehicles.
Together, the videos have over 15 million views, more than 8,200 comments and over 495,000 likes. (Note: Some of the posts have since been deleted.)
The context
Malanga is among those accused and convicted of taking part in an attempted coup d'état in the DRC on 19 May 2024. Christian Malanga led the attempted coup and was killed in the process, but his son and several others were arrested.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Among those arrested were foreigners, including three US citizens, a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian. Around 50 were charged and 37 were sentenced to death. Images from their trial show Malanga and his associates dressed in prison uniforms.
The captions in these videos suggest that the US military is intervening to rescue Malanga and his co-defendants. But is this true? We checked.
Misleading claims using unrelated footage
A reverse image search of key frames from these videos reveals that the clips are old and have nothing to do with the DRC.
The videos consist of several short clips of different scenes of military operations and use misleading subtitles to create a false narrative. One of the scenes, showing soldiers jumping from a helicopter, has been online for years and is not linked to any US operation in the DRC.
The clip of a large US Air Force plane unloading troops and vehicles is also from several previous military operations in different locations, not the DRC. Similarly, the video of soldiers being received at an airport is from December 2024 and shows Belgian troops in the DRC to evaluate a military training centre.
There has been no official announcement by the US or the Congolese government regarding any US military deployment to the DRC for such a mission. Malanga and his associates were tried and sentenced in Congo.
There are no credible reports or reliable expectations that they will be charged in the US. The US ambassador to Congo has pledged to cooperate fully with the DRC authorities in the investigation.
The claim that the US military went to the DRC to rescue Marcel Malanga and his associates is false.
